System and apparatus for pre-routing network events

ABSTRACT

A pre-routing software system for treating incoming network events according to event importance prior to agent-level routing in a communication center network is disclosed. The system includes at least one network interface for receiving incoming events, a parsing engine for parsing electronic messages and documents, at least one communication interface for enabling communication with connected routing, queuing, and automated response systems, and a determination module for determining pre-treatment of received events. In preferred application, incoming network events are parsed according to a rules set and determination of pre-treatment is made for each event according to the rules set. In some embodiments, the system is used in conjunction with one or more virtual, priority-based queuing systems.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS

[0001] The present patent application is a Continuation In Part (CIP) toa patent application Ser. No. 09/599,045 entitled, “System For RoutingElectronic Mails”, filed on Jun. 21, 2000, which is a divisionalapplication of patent application, Ser. No. 08/998,268, now issued aswhich is a divisional application of Ser. No. 08/795,680. The priorapplications are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to pre-routing of network-basedcommunication events and pertains particularly to methods and apparatusfor pre-routing based on real-time determination of importance of eventsand of agent availability status.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Electronic mail (e-mail) has recently become one of the mostcommonly used communication tools in business. And, as more and morehomes are connected to the Internet, Electronic mail is becoming animportant communication tool for the home user.

[0004] In the simplest case, electronic mail is the delivery oftext-based messages from a sending computer to one or more recipientcomputers. The sending and recipient computers are connected to a datanetwork. Typically, the message is temporarily stored in a server of thedata network. The recipient computers (users) can retrieve the storedmessages at their convenience.

[0005] Although many companies recognize the benefits includingefficiency of electronic mail, e-mail systems have been commonplace fora relatively short period of time and many companies have yet toimplement e-mail systems. This is largely because e-mail systems in thepast were proprietary systems. Messages can only be delivered in suchsystems if the senders and recipients use the same proprietary system.The proprietary nature of these e-mail systems means that each systemcan only be accessed by persons associated with the same organization(such as a company or an on-line service provider). It is very difficultto send messages to an intended recipient outside of the system. Thus, amessage can only reach a relatively small number of computers (i.e.,users). Unless the company has many employees, the costs of setting upan e-mail system may be much higher than the anticipated benefits.

[0006] With the continued improvement and expansion of the Internetnetwork and pervasive use thereof by both business and a growing numberof home users, it is clear that much improvement could be realizedthrough e-mail efficiency. The Internet also offers many resources inaddition to emails. Each user of the Internet is assigned an e-mailaddress that is recognizable around the world. A computer connected tothe Internet can send e-mails to any one of these email addresses. As aresult, it is possible to communicate electronically with many people atany time.

[0007] As a result of the popularity and convenience of e-mails, manycompanies allow their customers to send comments and request informationand services using e-mails. Typically, these companies set up one ormore specific e-mail addresses for these purposes. These mails aretypically answered on a first come first serve basis.

[0008] The inventor knows of a system for routing electronic mails toany one of a plurality of support persons in a processing orcommunication center. Each person in the center has a particular skillset rating that is suitable for responding to a certain type or class ofe-mails. The system comprises an e-mail server for receiving the e-mailfrom a sender, an information extractor for extracting relevantinformation from the e-mail, and a router for routing the e-mail. Thesystem contains a database for storing information related to allpersons who can answer e-mails. The system also contains a server forstoring the history of all activities in the system. The router can makerouting decisions and perform load-balancing and alert functions basedon the information stored in the database and the server.

[0009] In a communication center or other organized communicationenvironment, e-mail routing systems along with conventional telephonyand IP routing systems can be made somewhat intelligent with respect toload balancing, skill-set routing, and other conventions dealing withvirtually any media type. However, in all routing systems, overloadingwith respect to message overload in queue can pose a significantchallenge in providing timely service to those calling into the center.For example, in a communication center wherein agents deal with multiplemedia types, response times may vary for the different types. It isimportant for example that high-priority e-mails are answered in atimely manner, but not at the expense of equally high priority phonecalls and event of other media types.

[0010] Because a wide variety of different media types and typicalresponse-time requirements exist in a multimedia agent's workenvironment, it becomes important to balance and prioritize the workloadamong the varied media types while still remaining within acceptableresponse times for media types involved. Prior-art routing systems donot provide a method for optimizing media-mixed response scenarios forcenter agents or agent groups for that matter.

[0011] Therefore what is clearly needed is a system and method forpre-routing messages as a precursory step to actual routing routineswherein pre-responses may be sent to lower priority messages leavinghigher priority messages to actual agent level routing and treatment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention a pre-routingsoftware system for treating incoming network events according to eventimportance prior to agent-level routing in a communication centernetwork is provided, comprising at least one network interface forreceiving incoming events, a parsing engine for parsing electronicmessages and documents, at least one communication interface forenabling communication with connected routing, queuing, and automatedresponse systems, and a determination module for determiningpre-treatment of received events. The system is characterized in thatthe incoming network events are parsed according to a rules set andwherein determination of pre-treatment is made for each event accordingto the rules set.

[0013] In one embodiment the communication-center network comprises twoor more communication centers linked for communication and the pre25routing is performed in the network. Also in an embodiment thecommunication-center network is internal to a single communicationcenter and the pre-routing is performed within the communication center.Still further in an embodiment the communication-center network isinternal to a single communication center and a pre-routing is performedexternally from the communication center.

[0014] In still another embodiment of the system, network events includeemail, instant messages, electronic faxes, electronic documents,Internet protocol telephony events, automated transfer machine events,Internet protocol video-enhanced events, and electronic notifications ofconnection-oriented-switched-telephony events. The queuing system may bea virtual queuing system. In some cases the automated response systemsinclude an automated fax system, and automated e-mail system, and anautomated interactive-voice-response system. In these and other casespre-treatment options may include dropping the event, routing to anautomated response system, and routing to a live agent.

[0015] In another aspect of the invention a pre-routing server fordetermining treatment of incoming network events to acommunication-center network prior to agent-level routing is provided,comprising at least one input port for receiving the events, at leastone communications port for communicating to external and connectedsystems of the communication-center network, and an instance ofpre-routing software for parsing the network events and for determiningtreatment for each event based on the results of parsing. The server ischaracterized in that according to importance level of each event asdetermined through parsing results according to a set of rules, eventsare either terminated, routed to automated response systems, or routedto communication center agents.

[0016] In some embodiments of the server the communication-centernetwork comprises two or more communication centers linked forcommunication and wherein the pre-routing is performed in the network.In other embodiments the communication-center network is internal to asingle communication center and the pre-routing is performed within thecommunication center. In still other embodiments thecommunication-center network is internal to a single communicationcenter and a pre-routing is performed externally from the communicationcenter.

[0017] In still other embodiments of the network events include e-mail,instant messages, electronic faxes, electronic documents, Internetprotocol telephony events, automated transfer machine events, Internetprotocol video-enhanced events, and electronic notifications ofconnection-oriented-switched-telephony events. The automated responsesystems may include an automated fax system, and automated e-mailsystem, and an automated interactive-voice-response system.

[0018] In yet another aspect of the invention a method for pre-routingnetwork events incoming into a communication-center network according toimportance level of each event is provided, comprising steps of (a)receiving at least one network event for pre-routing; (b) parsing theevent according to a set of rules; (c) determining a treatment optionfor the event according to results of parsing and application of rulesset; and (d) exercising elected treatment option for the event.

[0019] In some embodiment of the method in step (a) the network event isone of an e-mail, instant messages, electronic fax, electronic document,Internet protocol telephony event, automated transfer machine event,Internet protocol video-enhanced event, or an electronic notification ofa connection-oriented-switched-telephony event. In some embodiments instep (b) the set of rules is predefined and applies to all events. Alsoin some embodiments in step (b) a set of rules pertains to specificmedia type. Also in step (b) the set of rules may be dynamic. In somecases in step (c) the treatment options include dropping the event,routing the event to an automated system, or routing the event to a liveagent.

[0020] In embodiments of the invention described in enabling detailbelow, for the first time a system and method is provided forpre-routing messages as a precursory step to actual routing routineswherein pre-responses may be sent to lower priority messages leavinghigher priority messages to actual agent level routing and treatment

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an e-mail processing center ofthe present invention.

[0022]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an e-mail to CTI server adapter usedin the e-mail processing center of the present invention.

[0023]FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing operation of the server adapterused in the e-mail processing center of FIG. 1.

[0024]FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a pre-routing and queuingsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025]FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating implementation of thesystem of FIG. 4 with a priority-based universal virtual queue 502according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0026] The present invention comprises a novel routing system forelectronic mails and related methods. The following description ispresented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use theinvention. Description of specific applications is provided only asexamples. Various modifications to the preferred embodiments will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principlesdefined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applicationswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, thepresent invention is not intended to be limited to the embodimentsshown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with theprinciples and features disclosed herein.

[0027]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an e-mail processing center 100of the present invention. Processing center 100 contains an e-mailserver 102 which is connected to a data network 104. Data network 104could be a local area network or a wide-area network (such as theInternet or an intranet). Other data processing devices, such ascomputers 106 and 108, are also connected to data network 104. All thedata processing devices can send e-mails to each other. As a result,some of the e-mails are sent to email server 102.

[0028] As an example, it is assumed that one of the addresses associatedwith e-mail server 102 is “support@abc-company.com”. This is an addressfor customers of a company named “ABC” to send in questions regardingproducts and services provided by the company. It is anticipated thatthe subject matter of the e-mails are diverse and the number of mails islarge. For example, the e-mails may relate to all aspects of theproducts and services offered by ABC. Some of the e-mails may containtechnical questions of a product. Other e-mails may report a bug insoftware sold by ABC. A few e-mails may contain suggestions on improvingthe products and services. If support persons of ABC are assigned toanswer some of the e-mails on a first come first served basis, it wouldbe very difficult for them to do so because it is almost impossible fora single person to know everything about ABC.

[0029] One aspect of the present invention is a system for automaticallyrouting the e-mails to the most qualified and available support persons.For example, a support person may be an expert in one product of ABC.All e-mails related to this product will be routed to this personautomatically. Further, the system can distribute the load so that everysupport person receives approximately the same number of emails. As aresult, the problems of the prior art systems can be solved.

[0030] Note that the criteria for determining whether a support personis available is not limited to e-mail activities. This is because thesame support person may provide telephone and facsimile support tocustomer inquiries. Thus, the availability of a support person mayinvolve a combination of activities involving telephone, facsimile,e-mail, data processing, etc.

[0031] Processing center 100 contains a server 112 that records allactivity in the center. For example, it contains records of who arepresent in the center at a particular time and are available forservice, as well as records of all emails that are pending and have beenprocessed by center 100. Server 1 12 is called herein the “stat-server.”It should be noted that many types of information can be recorded, andthe choice of information is determined on a case-by-cased basis.

[0032] Processing center 100 also contains a database 114 that containsdetailed information on each support person, products, and customers.Information of support persons includes their skill set (e.g., productexpertise, written language ability) and prior relationship withcustomers. Information on customers (based on the incoming e-mailaddress) includes the content of their. previous e-mails, the productsthey bought, their physical addresses (obtained from productregistration information), etc.

[0033] Processing center 100 also contains a router 116. This routerselects the most qualified and available support person to respond to aparticular email based on one or more algorithms (or scripts). Variousfactors in a routing strategy will be described below.

[0034] In one embodiment of the present invention, database 114, router116 and stat-server 112 could be a database, router and stat-servercommonly used in telephony call centers. The advantage of thisembodiment is that database, router and stat-server software fortelephony applications are well developed and widely available. The useof existing software (or slightly modified versions) could speed upproduct development time. In telephony applications, a server is used toprovide computer telephony integration (CTI) by controlling an automaticcall distributor (a telephony hardware device for controlling telephonecommunication between the public telephone networks and telephonesinside a call center) and communicating with a database, router andstat-server. This server is called herein the CTI-server. One of thefunctions of the CTI server is allowing automatic call distributors ofdifferent vendors to be used with the same database, router andstat-server.

[0035] In this embodiment, a CTI-server 130 and an e-mail-to-CTI-serveradapter 110 is preferably included. As explained above, CTI-server 130provides a common interface for communicating with database 114, router116 and stat-server 112 via a digital communication network 128. Becausethese software products are based on telephony applications, some of theattributes used therein may not be exactly the same as that used ine-mail applications. For example, the attribute of “telephone number” intelephony applications is not used in e-mail applications. Similarly,the e-mail attribute of “sender's e-mail address” may not berecognizable in telephony applications. These two attributes havesimilar characteristics, and can be used interchangeably provided thatthey are formatted and used properly. One of the functions of adapter110 is to provide conversion between e-mail attributes and telephonyattributes.

[0036]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of e-mail-to-CTI-server adapter 110. Itincludes an e-mail interface 202 for sending data to and receiving datafrom e-mail server 102. Adapter 110 also includes an informationextractor 204 for extracting relevant information from e-mails.Extractor 204 contains a parser 206 for parsing the content of thee-mails obtained from e-mail server 102. Extractor 204 also contains astorage device for storing an algorithm 208 which directs parser 206 toextract appropriate information from the content of the e-mails inaccordance with predetermined criteria. The extraction algorithm inextractor 204 is changeable because the coding in algorithm 208 could bechanged. Examples of relevant information are:

[0037] (a) Addresses: Typically, an e-mail has a portion that containsthe addresses of the sender and recipient. Extractor 204 directs parser206 to extract these e-mail addresses.

[0038] (b) Time Stamp: Some e-mail contains the date and time an e-mailis sent. Extractor 204 could direct parser 206 to extract thisinformation. This information may be more accurate than the time e-mailserver 102 receives the e-mail because some e-mails may be delayed formore than a day due to network problems.

[0039] (c) Keyword: The Extractor may direct the parser to conduct akeyword search on the content of the e-mails. Examples of keywords arename of relevant products and services provided by the company, specialwords such as “bugs,” “virus”, “crash” (for software products),“overheat” and “electric shock” (for hardware products), and words ofurgent nature (such as “urgent”, “ASAP”, and “fast”).

[0040] Adapter 110 contains a formatter 210 for formatting the relevantinformation into attributes that can be understood by CTI-server 130. Asan example, the sender's e-mail address could be formatted as a caller'stelephone number (which is a telephony attribute). The formattedattribute is sent to a data communication interface 212 whichcommunicates the attributes to CTI server 130 via communication network128.

[0041] Adapter 110 also contains a deformatter 214 that accepts data andcommands from CTI-server 130 and translate them to a form understood bye-mail server 102. As explained below, router 116 may send (viaCTI-server 130) commands to e-mail server 102. Returning now to router116, some examples of support person selection criteria are:

[0042] (a) the product expertise of the support person;

[0043] (b) language ability of the support person;

[0044] (c) activities the support person (e.g., how many e-malls havethis person processed and how many are pending);

[0045] (d) work load of other support persons in the center (for loadbalance among various support persons);

[0046] (e) the language of the incoming e-mail;

[0047] (f) the subject matter of the incoming e-mail;

[0048] (g) information about the sender;

[0049] (h) overall activities of the center (e.g. whether the supportpersons need to process jobs other than e-mails); and

[0050] (i) the urgency of the matter.

[0051] Processing center 100 contains a number of computer terminals,such as computers 122 and 124, managed by support persons. When asupport person starts to work, he/she logs in so that stat-server 112knows who is working in center 100 and how to reach the support person.Router 116 obtains information to make selection decisions fromstat-server 112 and database 114. Once a decision is made, router 116sends a command to email server 102 to route the e-mail to the selectedcomputer terminal. The support person responds to the e-mail and sendsthe reply to e-mail server 102, which delivers the reply to the sendervia data network 104.

[0052] A flow chart 150 showing the operation of e-mail processingcenter 100 is shown in FIG. 3. In step 152, e-mail server 102 receivesan e-mail. The e-mail is forwarded to e-mail-to-CTI-server adapter 110.In step 154, adapter 110 extracts e-mail attributes in accordance withpre-configured rules (embodied in extraction algorithm 208). It alsosends status information and formulates requests to CTI server 130 usingappropriate extracted attributes. In step 156, CTI-server 130 forwardsthe request and status information to router 116 and stat-server 112. Instep 158, router 116 retrieves information from stat-server 112 anddatabase 114 so as to make routing decision. In step 160, router 116instructs e-mail server 102 to route the e-mail to the computer terminalused by a selected support person, such as computer 122. Because theinstructions from router 116 may be coded in telephony-related commands,these instructions may need to pass through CTI-router 130, deformatter210 and e-mail interface 202. Upon receiving the e-mail, the supportperson processes the e-mail using computer 122. If there is a need tosend a reply, the support person writes the reply (step 162), anddirects e-mail server 102 to deliver the reply to a recipient connectedto data network 104 (step 164).

[0053] In addition to providing basic routing function, router 116 mayalso have a strategy to handle exception situations. For example, if anincoming mail is not answered by the selected support person within apredetermined time interval (e.g., three days), the mail is re-routed toanother qualified and available support person. This strategy preventsmails from being dropped. As another example, there may be times whenthe number of incoming mails exceeds the available resource to answerthese mails (i.e., overflow). Router 116 could store these mails in aqueue and direct e-mail server 102 to alert senders that it may take alittle longer to receive a reply. It should be noted that if router 116, stat-server 1 12 and database 1 14 are designed strictly for e-mailapplications, there is no need to have CTI server 130, formatter 210 andformatter 214. In this case, router 116, stat-server 112 and database114 can communicate with e-mail server 102 and information extractor 204directly.

[0054] Pre-Routing and Treatment of Mixed Media

[0055] In one aspect of the present invention, the inventor provides amixed media pre-routing system that intercepts and disseminatescommunication events, determines the priority of those events andpre-treats lesser priority events leaving higher priority events toactual agent-level routing. These communication events are to beunderstood in the broadest sense, and may include but are not limited toregular PSTN phone calls, IP phone calls, emails, chat, IMPP, SMS, voicechat, chat, chat relay, etc.

[0056]FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a pre-routing and queuingsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention. Apre-routing server 401 is provided for the purpose of interceptingincoming events for pre-routing processing. The system of the presentinvention is, in a preferred embodiment, implemented within acommunication center capable of receiving media from both data networksand the well-known PSTN network. In an embodiment whereinconnection-oriented switched-telephony (COST) events are bridged to adata network, typically the Internet, before arrival at thecommunication center, then the entire system may be implemented atnetwork level.

[0057] Server 401 is adapted by one universal interface orevent-specific separate interfaces (not shown) to receive e-mail events,instant message events according to instant message presence protocol(IMPP), IP telephony events, electronic facsimile events, and IP eventsrepresenting incoming COST calls. Server 401 may be assumed to be portedfor and software-adapted for receiving all such communication events.

[0058] A pre-routing software instance 402 is provided and implementedwithin server 401. Software 402 is adapted to assimilate incoming eventsregardless of protocol and to apply a pre-defined set of qualificationrules that help to determine an importance level for each individualevent intercepted. For example, an information extractor including anextraction algorithm and parser engine as represented further above withrespect to FIG. 2 would be part of software 402. Such capability is usedto parse electronic message events such as e-mails, electronic faxdocuments and instant messages. Software 402 is also adapted tocommunicate with and glean information from automated systems such asCOST-connected IVR systems and other intelligent peripherals such asstat servers and so on. In addition to the above-mentioned capabilities,software 402 has communication access to various messaging queuesrepresented in this example as message queues A, B, and C enclosed in aqueuing system 405 illustrated as a dotted rectangle.

[0059] Software 402 pre-routes message events according to a set ofpredefined rules for pre-routing that when applied to a message event,prioritize the event for one of three possible options. One option isrepresented in this embodiment as a box labeled suggested response 403.Response 403 is an automated response from one of various possibleautomated response systems that may be incorporated within a givencommunication center. For example, response 403 may be a generatedfacsimile response, an automated e-mail response, an automated IMPPresponse, an automated COST call-back, and so on.

[0060] Generation of option (response) 403 as a result of assimilationof an incoming event infers that the event was determined to beimportant enough for automated response, but not important enough toroute to a live agent for treatment under the systems workload of eventsat the time of receipt of the particular event. In this case, theincoming event is not forwarded into any of queues A,B, or C organizedwithin queuing system 405.

[0061] A second option is illustrated as a box labeled Drop and giventhe element number 404. Drop option 404 infers that after assimilating aparticular incoming event, it was not determined to be important enoughaccording to applied rules under existing message load for agent levelrouting or for automated response. In this case the event is simplydropped as the label of box 404 implies. In the case of a drop option,the nature of the physical option will of course depend on the type ofmedia of the particular incoming event. For example, in the case of abridged COST call, an IVR response may proceed the actual physicaldisconnect informing the caller to try the call again later. For ane-mail or an instant message, a courtesy response may inform the senderthat currently the system is overloaded or the server is down (messageundeliverable). There are many possible drop scenarios.

[0062] The third option is forwarding the incoming message to anappropriate agent queue represented by queues A-C within system 405. Thethird option infers that the event is of importance to the communicationcenter in terms of positive effect on the center, most probablyprofit-based effect. For example, an automated order message for agentprocessing, a call request to order products, a call request to arrangepayment for services previously rendered and so on. The exact criteriafor an event to receive actual agent-level routing will depend on thetype of business implementing the pre-routing system and the rulesapplied.

[0063] In one embodiment of the invention, the option for agent-levelrouting may be further optimized for priority. For example, assumequeues A, B, and C are segregated in order of customer class, forexample, in an airline embodiment where first class client requests areen-queued in queue A, second class requests are en-queued in queue B andeconomy class client requests are en-queued in queue B. Likely, queue Awill enjoy the fastest response time, while queues B and C have longerresponse times respectively. In this case, if the message load is verylarge, automated responses can be used for intercepts that are simplyinquiries for information (no purchase information), and drops can beinitiated for third party flight information requests, complaints, andall other customer service requests where no foreseeable benefit interms of profit or other advantage would be realized by the airline byservicing the particular request.

[0064] The system of the present invention can be integrated withexisting routing and message treatment systems already in operation at acommunications site. For example, if an e-mail routing system is inplace alongside a separate telephony routing system and an IP voiceand/or live-message routing system, then the system of the presentinvention would be a front-end system implemented between the variousreal queues and agent communication systems. Virtual queues adhering tothe pre-routing rule set can be implemented for the purpose ofprioritizing events such that priority notification can be sent toagents ahead of time informing the agents of which events andcorresponding media types to respond to. Actual or real message queuingwould follow the virtual directives including generation of pre-routingresponses from automated systems and drops.

[0065]FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating implementation of thesystem of FIG. 4 with a priority-based universal virtual queue 502according to an embodiment of the present invention. Elementsillustrated in this example that have already been introduced withrespect to description associated with the example of FIG. 4 are notre-introduced and retain their element numbers from FIG. 4.

[0066] In this example, a single virtual queue 502 is provided ahead ofany actual routing systems or agent-level queues. Queue 502 is universalin that it queues all events deemed important enough for eventualagent-level routing. Queue 502 is priority based, meaning that tokensrepresenting actual events may be en-queued in any specific positiondeemed appropriate either ahead of or behind other already en-queuedevents. As a virtual queue, queue 502 represents more of a directive orinstruction to agents in regard to which events actually queued orwaiting switches should be attended first and then next and so on.

[0067] Server 401 and software 402 operate very much as described withreference to FIG. 4 above accept that in this example, software 402controls en-queuing operations with respect to virtual queue 502. Thisprocess can be accomplished with a pre-route software controller (notshown) that would be integrated with software 402. For example, events501 a through 501 n in this example represent events already en-queuedaccording to response priority with a first-in-first-out theme that iswell known in the art. Incoming events that are deemed not importantenough for virtual en-queuing are either given an automated response ordropped altogether as was described with reference to FIG. 4 above.However, if it is deemed that a message should be en-queued ultimatelyfor agent-level routing, then software 402 will determine where (whatqueue position) in queue 502 the message will be placed.

[0068] In this example, a message for enquiring into virtual queue 502is represented by a box labeled Message and given the element number503. Message 503 can be a message of any media type including regulartelephone and automated transfer machine (ATM) type events. Queue 502simply holds a position for message 503, which is represented as beingenqueued into queue 502 between message 501 n and message 501 a. Simplyexplained, it has been determined by software 402 that message 503 ismore important that message 501 a but less important than message 501 n.It is noted herein and illustrated by dotted line that server 401inserts message 503, represented as a dotted box labeled with theforesaid element number 503.

[0069] As iterated above, events 501 a-n as well as message 503 can beof varied media types and are simply tokenized in this representation.Applicable media types include but are not limited to e-mail, instantmessages, electronic faxes, electronic documents, Internet protocoltelephony events, automated transfer machine events, Internet protocolvideo-enhanced events, and electronic notifications ofconnection-oriented-switched-telephony events.

[0070] In one embodiment, queue 502 contains actual messages and callnotifications and empties into appropriate agent queues that areindividualized to each agent.

[0071] It is noted herein that the pre-routing system of the presentinvention uses minimum parsing and rule comparison in order to determinepre-routing options for events. For example, in one embodiment only acaller ID is referenced against statistics surrounding the caller. Forexample, if a particular ID returns negative information such as “slowpayer”, then perhaps an automated response might be chosen for thatcaller during heavy event workloads.

[0072] In another embodiment, incoming events may, for example, becustomer reactions to a special promotion wherein they are told toinclude a product code or special word or phrase in their message. Whentheir responses come in the software looks for the key codes, phrases orwords assuming of course that the reactive event is likely to be apurchase order. In particularly heavy traffic conditions, perhaps onlythose events would get live treatment from agents.

[0073] In still another embodiment, a gatekeeper (not shown) could beprovided on the agent side of pre-routing server 401 and be adapted asan additional screening mechanism. In this case, all events having aspecial code or pre-set phrase are sent to the gatekeeper, which thenfilters the events further, perhaps using client history data todetermine which events are more important to route to agents.

[0074] Referring now to FIG. 1, pre-routing server 401 would beimplemented between adaptor 110 and router 116 and would have access toall machines connected to LAN 128. Moreover, pre-routing server 401would have additional connection with network routing apparatus andautomated systems (not shown). In a virtual queue embodiment, separatetypes of media would not have to be en-queued in media specific queuesuntil the point of interaction with an agent after agent-level routinghas been approved and performed. Information from the virtual queueposition of each event can be used to direct the agent in pursuing hisor her responses and treatments with regards to which queues to workfrom etc. There are many possibilities.

[0075] The invention has been described with reference to exemplaryembodiments thereof. Various modification and changes may be madethereunto without departing from the broad spirit and scope of theinvention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense; theinvention is limited only by the provided claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A pre-routing software system for treatingincoming network events according to event importance prior toagent-level routing in a communication center network comprising: atleast one network interface for receiving incoming events; a parsingengine for parsing electronic messages and documents; at least onecommunication interface for enabling communication with connectedrouting, queuing, and automated response systems; and a determinationmodule for determining pre-treatment of received events; characterizedin that the incoming network events are parsed according to a rules setand wherein determination of pre-treatment is made for each eventaccording to the rules set.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein thecommunication-center network comprises two or more communication centerslinked for communication and wherein the pre-routing is performed in thenetwork.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the communication-centernetwork is internal to a single communication center and the pre-routingis performed within the communication center.
 4. The system of claim 1wherein the communication-center network is internal to a singlecommunication center and a pre-routing is performed externally from thecommunication center.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein network eventsinclude e-mail, instant messages, electronic faxes, electronicdocuments, Internet protocol telephony events, automated transfermachine events, Internet protocol video-enhanced events, and electronicnotifications of connection-oriented-switched-telephony events.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the queuing system is a virtual queuingsystem.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the automated response systemsinclude an automated fax system, and automated e-mail system, and anautomated interactive-voice-response system.
 8. The system of claim 1wherein pre-treatment options include dropping the event, routing to anautomated response system, and routing to a live agent.
 9. A pre-routingserver for determining treatment of incoming network events to acommunication-center network prior to agent-level routing comprising: atleast one input port for receiving the events; at least onecommunications port for communicating to external and connected systemsof the communication-center network; and an instance of pre-routingsoftware for parsing the network events and for determining treatmentfor each event based on the results of parsing; characterized in thataccording to importance level of each event as determined throughparsing results according to a set of rules, events are eitherterminated, routed to automated response systems, or routed tocommunication center agents.
 10. The server of claim 9 wherein thecommunication-center network comprises two or more communication centerslinked for communication and wherein the pre-routing is performed in thenetwork.
 11. The server of claim 9 wherein the communication-centernetwork is internal to a single communication center and the pre-routingis performed within the communication center.
 12. The server of claim 9wherein the communication-center network is internal to a singlecommunication center and a pre-routing is performed externally from thecommunication center.
 13. The server of claim 9 wherein network eventsinclude e-mail, instant messages, electronic faxes, electronicdocuments, Internet protocol telephony events, automated transfermachine events, Internet protocol video-enhanced events, and electronicnotifications of connection-oriented-switched-telephony events.
 14. Theserver of claim 9 wherein the automated response systems include anautomated fax system, and automated e-mail system, and an automatedinteractive-voice-response system.
 15. A method for pre-routing networkevents incoming into a communication-center network according toimportance level of each event comprising steps of: (a) receiving atleast one network event for pre-routing; (b) parsing the event accordingto a set of rules; (c) determining a treatment option for the eventaccording to results of parsing and application of rules set; and (d)exercising elected treatment option for the event.
 16. The method ofclaim 15 wherein in step (a) the network event is one of an e-mail,instant messages, electronic fax, electronic document, Internet protocoltelephony event, automated transfer machine event, Internet protocolvideo-enhanced event, or an electronic notification of aconnection-oriented-switched-telephony event.
 17. The method of claim 15wherein in step (b) the set of rules is predefined and applies to allevents.
 18. The method of claim 15 wherein in step (b) a set of rulespertains to specific media type.
 19. The method of claim 15 wherein instep (b) the set of rules is dynamic.
 20. The method of claim 15 whereinin step (c) the treatment options include dropping the event, routingthe event to an automated system, or routing the event to a live agent.